Nancy Folbre, UMass Amherst economics professor, comments about the sharp decline in the number of women who identify themselves as housewives in Scandinavia and other western industrialized nations. “Even though a number of women still stay at home, a cultural shift has put them on the defensive,” says Folbre, noting that women now work because they want to and because their families need the added income, leading to a new set of social norms. (New York Times, 7/20/10)